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THE NS-INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR WAGONLOAD TRAFFIC

Netherlands Railways (NS) are facing strong competition in freight business. In order to improve the total process, i.e. the organised inter-actions of men, methods and means in all phases of the process, NS are developing a system which will finally lead to the optimal partition of tasks between men and equipment and to improvement of their management. This final situation cannot be reached in one step; the system has to be implemented in successive phases, models must be developed etc. NS decided -- as a first step -- to implement an information system for wagonload traffic, thus meeting the demands of the Operating Department and of various other managers. This first phase -- on line, real time -- of the system became operational in 1971. The next step, planned for 1976, will consist of enlarging the scope of the system (e.g. including data for the Finance Department) and of evolving a certain degree of process-control. The paper describes the above mentioned first phase of the system, its objectives, scope and degree of mechanisation/automation and the reasons for which it was thus conceived and realised.